Elderly African American clergywomen as community and educational resources

Transcription

1 The University of Toledo The University of Toledo Digital Repository Theses and Dissertations 2009 Elderly African American clergywomen as community and educational resources Nancy Parker Seay The University of Toledo Follow this and additional works at: Recommended Citation Seay, Nancy Parker, "Elderly African American clergywomen as community and educational resources" (2009). Theses and Dissertations This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by The University of Toledo Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of The University of Toledo Digital Repository. For more information, please see the repository's About page.

2 A Thesis Entitled Elderly African American Clergywomen as Community and Educational Resources by Nancy Parker Seay Submitted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for The Master of Education in Educational Theory and Social Foundations Advisor: Lynne Hamer, Ph.D. Morris Jenkins, Ph.D. Willie McKether, Ph.D. Judith Herb College of Education College of Graduate Studies The University of Toledo December 2009

3 An Abstract of Elderly African American Clergywomen as Community and Educational Resources by Nancy Parker Seay Submitted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for The Master of Education in Educational Theory and Social Foundations The University of Toledo December 2009 This qualitative study examines the ways in which an elderly African American clergywoman constructs meaningful communication and makes sense of her life, in an effort to identify culturally appropriate pedagogical models for teachers of African American students. Extensive attention is given to past records of African American clergywomen in the United States to foster greater understanding of the struggles and historical significance of a community and academic resource that has previously received little, if any attention in educational research. Combinations of the folkloristic and womanist approaches were utilized in the analysis of three field observations, and narratives included in a sermon. Three distinct themes emerged relating to celebration, prophecy, and the call. Findings were developed to suggest pedagogical strategies that teachers can learn from preachers. ii

4 Dedication This thesis is dedicated to the memory of my beloved pastor and many other courageous preaching women who have paved the way for generations to come. iii

5 Acknowledgements I wish to thank my advisor, Dr. Lynne Hamer, for her enthusiastic support of my uncommon subject. In addition, I am very grateful for my committee members, Dr. Morris Jenkins and Dr. Willie McKether for their support and advice. I wish to thank Dr. Sherick Hughes who afforded me the opportunity to attend Graduate School by accepting me as a Graduate Assistant in his program. His intellectual rigor and challenging insights were influential in my topic choice. Finally, I wish to thank my husband for his patience and understanding during the long hours spent in preparation of this thesis, and I wish to thank my mother for being a role model in academic pursuits. iv

6 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract Dedication Acknowledgements Contents List of Tables ii iii iv v vii Chapters: 1. INTRODUCTION 1 Introduction 1 Overview 2 Purpose and Significance of the Study 3 Framework and Research Questions 6 Research Design 6 Limitations of the Study 7 2. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 8 Introduction 8 Historical Review of the Black Church and Rise of African American Female Clergy 10 The Current State of African American Female Clergy in the United States 16 Othermothers in the African American Community 17 Womanist Approach 18 Folkloristic Approach RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY 24 Introduction 24 Research Questions 24 Research Design 25 The Site and Setting 26 The Participant 27 Data Collection 28 Data Management 28 Data Analysis and Representation 28 Problems 31 Validity 32 v

7 Confidentiality HER STORY 34 Introduction 34 The First Field Observation 34 The Second Field Observation 38 The Third Field Observation 41 The Message ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION 59 Introduction 59 The First Thematic Unit: Celebration 64 The Second Thematic Unit: The Prophet 69 The Third Thematic Unit: The Call 75 Conclusion DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PEDAGOGY 82 Introduction 82 Celebratory Pedagogical Approaches 85 Prophetic Pedagogical Approaches 88 The Call to Teach: Influence on Pedagogical Approaches 90 Conclusion 93 References 97 vi

8 List of Tables Table 2.1: Data Analysis and Representation 29 Table 2.2: Line-by-Line Coding and Emergent Themes 30 vii

9 Chapter One Introduction The message that the Lord gave (at the) the first of the year, And everywhere I go, cross-country and carry this message It first had to begin in us. Praise God. We were teaching, and as the prophet says, You will be tried. Hallelujah. As I taught this word in consecration this time, The enemy attacked my very brain. It seemed like a chisel was in my head. And it chiseled away at the very skull, in the very bone. I could hear it, I could feel it, I could feel the chisel. The pain was so great. But I already taught about the battlefield of the mind. So I had to go through that battle. And it was so extreme. Many things that I ve gone through, many healings From sermon introduction by Rev. Boyd 1 By analyzing a portion of a sermon and field observations of an elderly African American clergywoman, this research proposes to examine how she made sense of her life and how she constructed meaningful communication in the context of the Black church. Then, the way she constructed meaning and communicated in the Black church will be explored for usefulness in providing a model for teachers in predominantly African American classrooms. Elements of the above narrative only allude to how Rev. Boyd, an elderly African American clergywoman, made sense of her life. This narrative contains all of the 1 Rev. Boyd is the pseudonym for this study s participant. 1

10 components of a classic tale, replete with heroine and villain. She, as the heroine taught about the Battlefield of the Mind. Knowing the importance of her message, she taught it everywhere; not only in her church, but also across the country. However, as she fasted and prayed in preparation to take the message to Florida, a villain came and attacked her. She implied that the enemy (Satan) was threatened by the lessons she taught, because they exposed his villainous methods. Until this time, she had only taught about the battlefield of the mind. However, when the enemy attacked her mind, the lessons became ever so personal. Having been attacked by the enemy, in her very mind, she could now teach the lesson about the Battlefield of the Mind from her personal experience. Overview Correcting the historical and perennial academic underachievement of African American students requires cooperative support from all community stakeholders and institutions (Walker and Sprague, 1999). The family, the school, and the church are the institutions which have been most credited for maintaining stability in the Black community (Billingsley and Caldwell, 1991; Du Bois, 1903). Accordingly, academic achievement among African American students is strongly related to the themes of teacher-student relationship, academic self-concept and church involvement (Sanders, 1998). A growing body of empirical studies link religiosity and church attendance to academic achievement and decreased risk behaviors among African American young people (Sanders, 1998; Brega and Coleman, 1999). In spite of a common assumption that young people become less spiritual with each succeeding generation, Sinha, Cnaan, and Gelles (2007) recently reported that young people in general, ages 11 through 18 are 2

11 overwhelmingly religious. Of the four dominant ethnic groups investigated by Sinha and colleagues, African American young people scored the highest for religiosity. In addition, existing research ranks African American youth higher in church attendance and religiosity than other ethnic groups in this nation (Smith et. al, 2002). With these exceptional characteristics of African American youth in mind, this study identified a heretofore unrecognized and underutilized community resource, which also may have considerable cultural significance for many students. This resource has been present in most urban Black neighborhoods since the great migration periods of the early and mid twentieth century. This resource is highly respected and often called upon by community members in difficult times. This resource has a proven record for capturing the respect and attention of young people in the Black community. This resource is elderly African American clergywomen. Purpose and Significance of This Study Historical biases against older women, mingled with the current cultural bias toward youth in the dominant culture may have impacted the value general society places on older women. In academia issues relating to age and gender, combined with other marginalizing factors such as perceptions of race and class, may have factored into the tendency to overlook elderly African American clergywomen. However, this slight is unfounded in light of the significant and unique position of these feminine Black preaching sages. Historically, elder respect has been a hallmark in traditional African American communities and institutions. This is especially true in Black churches. Unique to the Black church is the honorific title, Mother, which is bestowed upon older women who 3

12 have lived consistent exemplary lives (Krause, 2006). In this researcher s home congregation, for example, church mothers enjoy preferred seating during worship services and are entrusted with caring for the sacred communion instruments. Krause, cited Lincoln and Mamiya s 1990 landmark research identifying the high level of respect and power afforded church mothers in Black churches, In some black churches pastors usually consult with the church mother before making an important decision because she can exercise countervailing power among key church members (p. 275). Sadly, although decades of research point to the deficits and failures of Black mothers (Case, 1997) research is limited on the positive contributions of other women in the African American community. Case presents the concept of Othermother as an example of women who have a positive impact in the Black community. The tradition of Othermothering, a vestige from slavery, is the support offered to biological mothers by more experienced mothers in caring for their children. The Othermothering tendancy is well noted among Black teachers (Case, 1997; Beauboef-Lafontant, 2005), however Black clergywomen as Othermothers has received little, if any attention in acacemic literature. Clergy, especially pastors, are highly utilized resources within the Black church context. W. E. B. DuBoise noted in his classic work, The Souls of Black Folks, The Preacher is the most unique personality developed by the Negro on American soil. A leader, a politician, an orator, a "boss," an intriguer, an idealist, -- all these he is. Black preachers can exert tremendous influence among their congregations. For example, ethnographic studies have suggested that individual church leaders use of cultural tools such as religious rituals and distinctive preaching styles, impacts collective 4

13 behaviors within their congregations (Billingsley and Caldwell, 1991; Lee, 2004). This is important because African American clergywomen are more likely to lead urban congregations that feature demographics associated with high academic risk in children, such as increased representation of families led by single and low-income mothers (Konieczny & Chaves, 2000). This being true, understanding how Black clergywomen use their social capital and social positionality to provide leadership in addressing the unique needs of impoverished Black communities will add to the body of research on culturally relavent pedagogy. Given the dismal conditions of many Black schools and the disappointing achievement levels of Black students, educational sociologist Tamara Beauboeuf- Lafontant (2005) recommended the reinvention of schools to meet the distinctive needs of marginalized children. A step in this direction would be to incorporate teacher-learner styles and relationships that are familiar to Black students. Case (1997) furthered this argument by citing Billingsley (1992) in calling for educational reform based on pedagogy derived from the experiences of African Americans. With this advice in mind, this study focuses on one African American clergywoman s leadership, approach and ideology. Understanding her ability to form and pursue goals is not only inspirational, but is also a welcome addition to the academic literature related to African American community resources. In the process, this research will also make the larger, dominant culture and educational community aware of the significance of older African American clergywomen. 5

14 Framework and Research Questions This study is significant because it identifies culturally appropriate methods of communication utilized within the context of the Black church. To meet this objective, narratives and field observations of the participant were analyzed to answer three key questions: 1. How did this elderly African American clergywoman make sense of her life? 2. How did this elderly African American clergywoman construct meaningful communication within the context of the Black church? 3. Can the way she made sense of her life and constructed meaningful communication, in the context of the Black church, provide a useful model for teachers in addressing the needs of Black students? Research Design The research questions informed the choice of a qualitative research design for a number of reasons. First, understanding how the participant constructed meaningful dialogue within the Black church context required research in natural settings to examine how context influenced the dialogue and actions chosen by the participant. In addition, this type of research design was suitable for a study limited to the lived experiences of a single participant. Finally, qualitative research is preferred for the study of phenomena that is not well known (Marshall & Rossman, 2006). An important objective of this study was to present a little-known resource for educational research that has been traditionally existent in urban African American communities. The folklorist approach encouraged a thorough examination of the participant s words in their natural context, and aspects of the womanist approach provided structure 6

15 to comprehend the unique perspective of elderly African American clergywomen. Both frameworks aided in understanding how this woman made sense of her life and the methods she used to communicate information that she thought was important to other people. Limitations of Study One of the reasons this participant was chosen was because of the profound and lasting positive effect that she has had upon the life of this researcher. However, backyard research (Creswell, 1998), that is research performed in very familiar settings, does carry some risk. Familiarity with the site and participant may create expectations that constrain data collection, researcher role can be confusing for participants (Glesne, 2006). In this case the long-standing and close relationship between the participant and researcher may impact the researcher s subjectivity. Another limitation is the source of the data. Early in this research the participant became very ill and incapacitated. After several failed attempts to obtain a life history interview, a decision was made to rely upon the existing audio recordings and several field observations of her teaching to identify descriptive narratives for analysis. Consequently the data collected in this investigation was limited to portions of a sermon and field observations of a single participant during an approximately six week period in Therefore, this study is unsuitable for broad generalizability. However, this exploratory study will attempt to identify concepts that are transferable in specific contexts. 7

16 Chapter 2 Review of Related Literature Introduction The topics to be covered in this review of literature include the history of the Black church in the United States and the role of African American clergywomen in the Black church. The historical review is followed by an exploration of the current state of African American clergywomen and the alignment of African American clergywomen with the concept of Othermothers in the Black community. This chapter concludes with an examination womanist and folklorist approaches in data analysis and interpretation. In spite of the well-acknowledged relationship between the Black church and academic achievement among African American young people (Killingray, 2003; Raboteau, 2004; Sernett, 1999) academia has given little attention to African American religious history. Although the history of the Black Church has recently enjoyed greater recognition of in other disciplines, scholarship devoted specifically to the history and achievements of African American clergywomen is scarce. While lack of data for this could be blamed for this omission, Sernett (1999) countered, claiming lack of rigor in data collection was the primary problem. Collier-Thomas (1998) offered confirmation by uncovering an abundance of historical documents authored by African American women. Many of these nineteenth and early twentieth century documents included numerous references to African American clergywomen in the Black press, obituaries, and letters. Carpenter (1989 & 2001) also referred to several recent contributions to historical 8

17 research on African American clergywomen; however she focused on clergywomen within traditional mainline Protestant denominations (Best, 2005). Failure to recognize non-traditional churches lead by clergywomen may not be a simple oversight. Gilkes (1986) recounted her fellow sociologists admission of intentionally excluding small female led independent congregations from their research focus. This review will present the history of African American clergywomen through a narrowing funnel beginning with the conception of the African American church and its role in the development of African American clergywomen. Special attention will be given to the expansion of the Black church resulting from the Great Migrations of the twentieth century. Finally, this historical review concludes with the rise of African American clergywomen as leaders of independent churches and their current status in American society. The scope of this background history is limited to North American Protestant religious activity. Although the Catholic Church did offer parallel opportunities for female leadership through monasticism, its hierarchical structure placed men almost exclusively in clerical and church leadership roles. Additionally, the Catholic church s claim to universality circumvented any rifts leading to an independent African American body (Killingray, 2003). Finally, although African American Protestantism existed throughout the Americas, especially in countries colonized by English or Dutch settlers, this review is limited to the experience of African American clergywomen in the United States. 9

18 Historical Review of the Black Church and Rise of African American Female Clergy Although religion has been central in the African American experience since the arrival of the first African Americans at Jamestown in 1619 (Best, 2005; McCartney, 2003) few Blacks, freed or slave, became Christians before the Great Awakenings beginning in the early eighteenth century (Killingray, 2003). This was a period marked by fervent religious revivals and religious conversions. African Americans who converted Christianity attended predominantly White churches at first, and continued to do so well into the nineteenth century. Some independent Black Baptist churches began to appear in the southern colonies as early as the Revolutionary War period. In southern Georgia, slave masters hoped to stem the number of slaves escaping to find refuge with the nearby sympathetic Seminole Indians by allowing slaves to build their own churches and have their own preachers (Brown, 2008). In one instance, a slave, George Liele, organized a church near Savannah, Georgia in 1777 and continued the work until his emancipation in He baptized converts Andrew and Hannah Bryan the same year. Liele subsequently left the area and Andrew Bryan continued the work. With the permission of his master, Bryan received Baptist ordination in 1788 and erected a traditional building in People, chosen specifically for their building and iron working skills developed in Africa were enslaved and brought to the east coast to build the city of Savannah. They also used their skills to build a beautiful church of their own. By 1802 the church boasted of a membership of between mostly enslaved people (Brown 2008, Sernett, 1999). African American clergywomen are largely a product of the Black church which has provided a consistent source of physical, social, emotional and spiritual support for 10

19 African Americans. The church also served as a buffer against the racial bigotry encountered by the Black parishioners on a daily basis (Youngblood & Winn, 2004). Black women were integral in the development of all activity in the Black church. Women influenced the development of the church, as well as leadership within the church, and church-based political activities resulting in social policies affecting the wellbeing of African Americans throughout the United States (Carpenter, 2001). In 1799, Richard Allen became the first African American ordained in the Methodist Church. Allen was instrumental in the formation of the African American Episcopal (AME) church which was formed in response to the discrimination regularly experienced by Blacks in predominantly White Methodist churches of the North. This independent Black denomination produced many of the early female religious leaders and clergywomen including the first African American woman to receive ordination. Biographies, autobiographies and written sermons provided data specific nineteenth-century clergywomen. Several of these women have received attention in recent scholarly works (Haywood, 2003; Collier-Thomas, 1998). Collier-Thomas identified the earliest known African American clergywoman as a slave named Elizabeth born in She was freed thirty years later. Like many of her later sisters in ministry, she experienced a dramatic call to preach which she resisted at first. At age 42 Elizabeth finally answered the call and preached for nearly 50 years before retiring. In the early 1800s, Jerena Lee was authorized to preach in the AME church by Richard Allen. She was the first known African woman to have that honor. Other early African American clergywomen included Julia Foote, Harriet Baker, Mary Small, Maria Stewart, and Frances Joseph Gaudet, among others. Carpenter (1989, 2001) explained 11

20 that many of these women started their ministries as evangelists during this time. She gave the example of Amanda Smith who traveled extensively throughout the United States, the British Isles, India and Africa, preaching and ministering to people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. In her old age, she founded an orphanage for children near Chicago. The experiences of early African American clergywomen were often tinged with suffering. Race-based adversity was not uncommon for these preaching women. Elizabeth risked re-enslavement when she preached against slavery in the southern states (Collier-Thomas, 1998) and Julia Foote became very ill aboard the deck of a steamboat because Blacks were denied access to warm cabin accommodations (Haywood, 2003). Another reason these clergywomen faced difficulty was because preaching was generally viewed as a gendered profession reserved for men. Jerena Lee gave several accounts of being denied the use of church facilities because she was not licensed to preach. African American denominations were typically reluctant to license women to preach. Like their White counterparts, these denominations maintained patriarchal hierarchies in leadership. Without licenses, women were denied official sanction to preach and were excluded from pastorates, as well as other leadership positions within denominational organizations. Consequently, clergywomen s authority to preach was constantly questioned by men and women alike. However, many clergywomen answered their detractors by declaring their personal responsibility to obey God surpassed their responsibility to obey the laws of men. Maria Stewart, for instance admonished her listeners concerning female preachers in her farewell address to her friends in Boston: 12

21 be no longer astonished then, my brethren and friends, that God at this eventful period should raise up your own females to strive, by their example both in public and private, to assist those who are endeavoring to stop the strong current of prejudice that flows so profusely against us at present. No longer ridicule their efforts, it will be counted for sin. For God makes use of feeble means sometimes, to bring about his most exalted purposes (Stewart, 1833). In defense of her call to preach, Jerena Lee referred to a well-known Bible account, "If an ass reproved Balaam, and a barn-door fowl reproved Peter, why should not a woman reprove sin (Lee, 1884). By the end of the nineteenth century the AME Zion church began to grant women ordination privileges. However, most other Black mainline denominations restricted women s ministry by varying degrees. Conversely, at the beginning of the twentieth century, female ordination was standard in most Holiness churches (Sanders, 1996a). The Holiness movement produced the modern Pentecostal Movement in the first decade of the twentieth century. Sanders described how a Black Holiness preacher, William J. Seymour, was introduced to the gift of speaking in tongues by Lucy Farrow, an African American female pastor of a Holiness Church in Texas. Later Seymour carried the message that speaking in tongues was the evidence of being baptized with the Holy Spirit to another female-led Holiness church in Los Angeles. The message gained in popularity and the Azuza Street Revival was initiated. This event is generally believed to be the birth of the Modern Pentecostal Movement. Adherence to the Holiness and Pentecostal Movements fueled an increase in African American clergywomen. A rising number African American clergywomen departed mainline denominations to join smaller independent churches and denominations that were sympathetic to female leadership. An example is Jane Williams, who in 1886 founded and became pastor of the first Black congregation in the newly formed Church of God denomination, in Charleston, South 13

22 Carolina (Sanders, 1996b). Other clergywomen began to start their own independent churches. Thus, social and spiritual needs arising from rapid urbanization during the Great Migrations were important factors contributing to the increase of Black clergywomen serving as pastors in independent churches (Gilkes, 1986; Best, 2005). Many of the independent churches, referred to as Sanctified Churches, developed in response to the convergence of the Holiness Movement, the Pentecostal Movement (Gilkes, 2001) and in the urban North, the Great Migrations of the early to mid twentieth century (Gilkes, 1986). The Great Migration periods extended from the start of World War I through the 1960s. This period was characterized by the massive movement of people from the rural South to the urban North in search of more lucrative industrial employment. Boyd (1998) described the southern migrants as typically very religious, with church attendance being very important in their lives. The migrants valued traditional and demonstrative expressions of worship, as well as intimacy among the congregants. However, these values were not shared in the more formal mainline Black denominational churches of the North. Consequently, many of the migrants fulfilled their desire for worship representing their cultural leanings by organizing independent churches and denominations outside of the existing Black mainline denominational churches. Many of these churches were the Pentecostal Sanctified Churches which emerged as indirect products of the Azuza Street Revival. Gilkes (1986) described the migrants perspective very succinctly, as free women and men, the Sanctified Church rejected a cultural and organizational model that uncritically imitated Euro-American 14

23 patriarchy (p. 27). Zora Neale Hurston s (1983) anthropological studies of Southern Sanctified churches in the 1930s identified the Sanctified Church s conception as a product of protest against high-brow tendency in Negro Protestant congregations (p. 103). Gilkes (1986) listed the ways in which the Sanctified Church affirmed Black women in particular. First, the church supported the dignity of Black working women by offering a network of moral support within the family and larger community context. Second, in spite of its reputation for being unsophisticated and uneducated, in the Sanctified Church women were always encouraged to further their education, and then to use what they learned to serve the church. Furthermore many of the Sanctified Churches and denominations offered women licensure to preach. Among the Sanctified Churches that did not allow female ordination, women were almost always allowed to teach and hold prominent positions in denominational leadership. In spite of the recent flurry of scholarship directed at the development of female ministry within mainline denominations, the significance and accomplishments of independent Pentecostal clergywomen has been obscured for the most part (Collier- Thomas, 1998; Best, 2005). Best s examination of African American clergywomen the Great Migration eras provided rich descriptions of female-led religious worship and social outreach in Black Chicago. One example was Elder Lucy Smith, a native of Georgia, who left the Baptist church to establish the All Nations Pentecostal Church. Works Progress Administration (WPA) writers Harper and Bontemps (1941) described Elder Smith in their report on the African American religious community in Chicago: the most famous preacher of the order is Elder Lucy Smith, a huge black woman who boasts of being the only member of her sex in Chicago ever to have 15

24 built a church from the ground up; unlike most other church edifices of the race in her district, her's was not purchased from whites. Human sympathies of preachers were typified by Elder Smith in 1932 when she setup a soup kitchen to feed hundreds of unemployed workers. For six months, over ninety persons daily were fed in her kitchen. Both races were seated at the tables, the beneficent elder insisting that no difference be made because of color. Described as a simple, ignorant, untrained but deeply sympathetic woman who believes absolutely in her power to help and heal others, her congregation consists largely of new arrivals from the South and those Negroes who have not and probably never will become urbanized. They are persons of little or no formal education, mostly day laborers, domestic servants, WPA workers, and relief clients. Elder Smith's church for a time broadcast on the air an hour of its Sunday night's service. Elder Smith, unlike most of her female contemporaries, was the pastor of a large congregation and the Overseer of a conference of churches. Typically female headed independent congregations were likely to have started as prayer meetings in private homes and apartments, and later they moved into small storefronts (Collier-Thomas, 1998). Until recently, storefront churches were the object of suspicion and speculation because of their unconventionality, low status, and their association with emotional and noisy forms of worship. However, the migrants found these smaller storefront churches to be a place of refuge from the harsh realities of life in the urban North (Boyd, 1998; Best, 2005). The Current State of African American Female Clergy in the United States Although women represent 75 to 90 percent of all activity within churches, there are glaring disparities between female-headed and male-headed congregations. From a sample of 1236 congregations Konieczny & Chaves (2000) noted that first; women were significantly more likely to lead Black and ethnically mixed congregations. Second, they tend to have smaller congregations and fewer financial resources than male-headed congregations. Third, female-headed congregations are more likely to exist in urban settings. Fourth, their congregations have proportionately fewer two-parent families or 16

25 families with high incomes. Finally, female-led churches have a historically tendancy to have majority female congregations. Elder Lucy Smith (Best, 2005) and Bishop Ida B. Robinson (Collier-Thomas, 1998) are examples of churches with congregations and leadership that were originally overwhelmingly female. In addition, African American clergywomen in particular are more likely to lead independent congregations rather than denominationally affiliated congregations. Of particular significance to this research, the demographics associated with congregations led by African American clergywomen are aligned with the demographics of families with children at academic risk. Therefore, these churches may likely offer access to student populations in need of academic consideration. Othermothers in the African American Community Although much attention has been given to the failures of Black women as mothers, research is limited on the successes of Black mothers and other mother figures in the African American community. For instance, there is a predisposition among many African American women to act as Othermothers in their communities (Case, 1997). Case described Othermothers: Othermothering and community Othermothering can be defined as African American women's maternal assistance offered to the children of blood mothers within the African American community. Originally traced to slavery, Othermothering was a survival mechanism that served as a vehicle for educational and cultural transmission (P. 25). Case (1997) acknowledged that the status of Othermother is not automatic in African American communities, but that this status demands lengthy and careful cultivation. She also made the distinction between the positions of younger and older Othermothers. She referred to younger women as Othermothers, while the older, more 17

26 experienced women were given the distinction of Community Othermothers. Community Othermothers were distinct because of their comprehension of the culture and norms of community. Additionally, their ability to excersise power in wider community forums indicated that they had already gained the respect of the wider community. Older female sages are examples of Othermothers. Jimenez (2002) argued that the culturally embedded elder respect in Black communities was rooted in African tradition. She also pointed to the essential role played by older women in Black communities during slavery and the Reconstruction eras. As sage, she transmitted African cultural forms, socialized children to survive the horrors of slavery and Jim Crow, provided health information, and offered community healing. Indeed Jimenez (2002) asserted that among African Americans, the oldest person in the family was also the most honored person in the family. The oldest person in the family was typically a great grandmother between the ages of 60 and 85. Unique to the African American community, grandmothers remain involved in their children and grandchildren s lives, even after their children have established independent households. Womanist Approach The womanist approach is a critical tool for understanding the unique perspective of elderly African American clergywomen. Social activist and writer Alice Walker is credited for coining the expression womanist (Gilkes, 2001; Phillips, 2006). Walker (1984) defined her concept of womanism at length in her book, In search of our mothers' gardens: Womanist prose. This study draws from three primary aspects from Walker s 18

27 definition: love of, 1) the Spirit, 2) the struggle, 3) the folk, and 4) the self, to develop a framework for understanding how the participant made meaning out of her life. Spirituality is central in the womanist approach. However, spirituality, in womanist thinking is not compartmentalized and set aside for certain days of the week or to practiced in certain places. Spirituality is part of everyday life for Black women. Beauboeuf-Lafontant (2002) demonstrated how one teacher, Mama Hawke, viewed her own spirituality as a resource enabling her to adapt to the challenges of teaching, she frames her teaching as a mission and sees herself as a child of God and as having the spiritual resources to undertake that mission (p. 81). In the context of womanist spirituality in the Black church, Carpenter (1989) recognized the development of womanist theology as a building block for positive change in the status of African American clergywomen. The womanist approach recognizes that the struggle of African American women is deeply embedded in other realities of Black life including racism, classism (Phillips, 2006), and in this study, elder respect and spirituality. A common criticism of feminism is that it overlooks Black women s experiences. In this way, womanism differs from feminism because it rejects the notion that Black women have the luxury of bonding together under the banner of gender without giving attention to the other forces that equally contribute to their oppression. Womanism provides structure for understanding the perspective of African American clergywomen by linking the overlapping oppressions historically and currently faced by the African American clergywomen to the strengths embodied in their ministries. To this end Collier-Thomas (1998) asserted, It is crucial to understand the widespread racism in White feminism and the widespread 19

28 sexism in Black male progressivism to understand the uniqueness of Black preaching women ( p. 9). Folk, a comfortable and down-to-earth term referencing people, captures the womanist experience, particularly when speaking about old folk. It challenges the socially constructed notion of feeble old woman. Indeed, womanism is a vehicle to venerate advanced age and to connect with the unique historical importance of elder women in the African American community. For example, Jimenz (2002) looked at the historical role of African American grandmothers, and argued that the role of grandmothers is fundamentally different from the role maintained in the majority culture. The clearly delineated terms of grandparental involvement in the lives of grandchildren, observed in the majority culture, did not exist in the Black community. African American grandmothers commonly considered the struggle to care and provide for their families as a life-long pursuit. A womanist framework uses the African American grandmother s role to equate age with strength and ability. This contrasts to the tendency to view age as oppressive and limiting in the mainstream culture. In viewing the self, the womanist approach defies the passive, docile, weak, and deferential qualities usually attributed to good women. To the contrary, strengths which were inherent to, or developed within, the African American cultural experience, are celebrated and embraced in the womanist paradigm (Phillips, 2006). The African American cultural experience includes racism, sexism, classism, and ageism. The womanist framework considers African American women s experience as normative (Beauboeuf-Lafontant, 2002). Womanism then, contrasts to the deficit theories held in 20

29 mainstream culture, which view African American women s experience as irreversibly damaging, not taking into consideration the historical resiliency of Black women. For the purposes of this research it is important to note that the womanist approach recognizes the importance of role models and mentors universally existent in the African American female experience (Gilkes, 2001). Finally, womanism embraces Black women s maternal side. In education, Case (1997) identified African American female teacher s tendency to assert their maternal nature in relation to their students as an example of other-mothering. Folkloristic Approach A close look at the construction of personal narratives offers the listener a glimpse into the way that people make meaning of their lives (Coffey & Atkinson, 1996). Richardson (1995) proposed that the narrative, displays the goals and intentions of human actors; it makes individuals, cultures, societies, and historical epochs comprehensible and it allows us to contemplate the effects of our actions to alter the directions of our lives (p. 200). Hence, the narrative is a means of communicating for the narrator and a means of understanding for the listener. Furthermore, Richardson advised that the practical purpose of the narrative is to state how (other) people live their lives in a way to achieve their goals. This study implemented a strategy featuring narrative research with the folkloristic approach. Hamer (1999) defined folklore as a situated performance of a traditionalized text in which the performer takes responsibility for communicating a version of the text to the audience that is meaningful to them in their current situation (p. 366). This research recognized the Bible as the traditional text, the participant as the 21

30 performer, the congregation as the audience, and the church settings as the current situation or natural setting in which the performance took place. On a more personal note, the mandate of folklore enthusiasts to protect and preserve unique oral texts from eventual extinction (Fine, 2008) fulfilled this researcher s objective of preserving a portion of the participant s story for posterity. As this thesis is expected to have a wider audience among some readers who may not be familiar with the folkloristic approach within narrative analysis, a few things should be clarified concerning the language used in this genre. The folkloristic approach does not imply that the narratives being analyzed are folktales in the way that we were taught in grade school. For instance, the narratives are not looked upon like the American folktales of Paul Bunyan and John Henry. This approach does not challenge the veracity of the narratives. It is an approach to understand traditional texts that are performed (delivered) before groups of people (an audience). Likewise, the use of the words performance or performer does not imply that the person delivering the text is acting a part, as in a scripted performance. The sincerity of the performer is in no way questioned. Language consistent with this analytical approach was used for clarity in analyzing and reporting results. Hamer s (1999) research determined to examine useful teaching practices often overlooked in pedagogical methodology. At the same time she championed the use of personal dialogue to enhance and legitimize the written traditional text. Hamer identified concepts in folkloristic studies that are particularly applicable to educational research and by extension to this research. Foremost is the concept of performance, which is when a person takes responsibility for capably communicating information that she feels is 22

31 important to her audience. The concept that performance of a text can never be presented again identically in the same way as written text because of the instability of environmental context, caused Hamer to suggest that teaching performance cannot be standardized. Summary Although this literature review provides a basis for understanding the experiences of Elderly African American Clergywomen, further investigation is warranted because this is an emerging topic. Questions remain concerning the influence of elderly African American Clergywomen upon the educational decisions of young people in their congregations. For example, this researchers church has had middle-aged and elderly female leadership for over 40 years. In that short period of time there has been a dramatic increase in the number of people from that congregation who complete post-secondary education, with many holding advanced degrees. From this phenomena it could be questioned whether the gender, ethnicity, or age of the pastor, are contributing factors in academic achievement among their parishioners. Given the range of experiences among African American clergywomen and the scarcity of research in this area, future research possibilities are unlimited. 23

32 Chapter 3 Research Design and Methodology Introduction Even with the best-intended strategies, research rarely goes exactly the way it was planned. This study began with the intention of presenting a life history of this participant after conducting of a series of in depth interviews. Nevertheless, although interviews were scheduled on a couple of occasions, the participant rescheduled due to her very busy schedule. Then the participant became very ill. She assured me that she wanted her story told, but she wanted to recover her strength enough to coherently participate in the interviews. After waiting nearly a year, it became obvious she would not recover to the point that she would be able to grant the desired interviews. At that point in time, I had collected field notes from three observations of the participant teaching and leading public worship, and I had conversations with her about the present research. In addition, an audio file of her teaching during a public worship service had been obtained. The recording and field observations of her teaching were significant because they provided a model of her teaching style and interactions with her students/congregations. After consulting with her advisor, this researcher decided to continue this study with the existing data. Research Questions Understanding what is culturally significant for people of varied ethnicities is essential in advancing meaningful communication across ethnic groups. Developing 24

33 meaningful dialogues across ethnic and cultural lines is particularly important for teachers with diverse classrooms. For example, it may help to know that African Americans often incorporate religious themes into secular activities. Along these lines, Pattillo-McCoy (1998) posited that the church provides a cultural blueprint (p.768) for organizations, including schools, within Black communities. Therefore, understanding the significance of the Black church and how meaning is constructed, as well as communicated, within its confines may be very useful for teachers of African American students. This study is significant because it identifies models of culturally appropriate methods of communication utilized within the context of the Black church. To meet this objective, narratives and field observations of the participant were analyzed to answer three key questions: 1. How did this elderly African American clergywoman make sense of her life? 2. How did this elderly African American clergywoman construct meaningful communication within the context of the Black church? 3. Can the way she made sense of her life and constructed meaningful communication, in the context of the Black church, provide a useful model for teachers in addressing the needs of Black students? Research Design The research questions informed the choice of a qualitative research design for a number of reasons. First, understanding how the participant constructed meaningful dialogueue within the Black church context required research in natural settings to examine how context influenced dialogue and actions chosen by the participant. In 25

34 addition, this type of research design was suitable for a study limited to the lived experiences of a single participant. Finally, qualitative research is preferred for the study of phenomena that is not well known (Marshall & Rossman, 2006). An objective of this study was to present a little-known resource for educational research that has been traditionally existent in urban African American communities. Narrative analysis with the folkloristic approach (Hamer, 1999) was the overall strategy utilized in design and analysis. Narrative research is quite amenable for investigating detailed stories and experiences of an individual (Creswell, 2007). Although Hamer s (1999) work examined teachers as storytellers, her folklorist framework adequately informed the analysis of this clergywoman s unique dialogues combining decades of experience, womanist ideology, and Biblical theology. Useful for this research was Hamer s suggestion that folkloristic theories and analysis offered a method to identify how the performer constructs meaning by creating relationships for their audiences through time and space. This study examined how an elderly clergywoman used genres, which Hamer defined as forms of discourse (p. 366) such as personal experiences, metaphors, legends and prophecy, to communicate with her audience in ways that were meaningful to them. The Site and Setting The independent Pentecostal church where the participant served as pastor was located in a predominantly White, lower-income urban neighborhood of a moderately sized Midwestern city. The traditional edifice was purchased nearly 30 years prior from a predominantly White congregation who had built a new church in the suburbs. The wellkept church had been remodeled twice since it was purchased from the former owners. 26